A while back, UK record label Hyperion released a CD of music by a French composer whose work had long been in the public domain. But then, a musicologist contacted the label, claiming that he had assembled the works on the disc from original manuscripts over hundreds of hours, and asking for a few thousand pounds for his trouble. Rebuffed, the musicologist sued, and won. “Hyperion took the case to appeal but lost again last week, leaving them facing legal bills of up to £1 million – a crippling sum for a small independent label. At first sight, the result seems a tragedy for the classical music profession, as Hyperion has produced some of the finest – and certainly most interesting – recordings made in Britain over the past quarter century.”